Debra Hill

Her father had worked as an art director on many of the Hope/Crosby "Road" pictures and Debra Hill certainly paid her dues, first as a script supervisor on more than a dozen features before edging int...
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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After 8 seasons, Dexter has finally come to a close. The series has definitely had its ups and downs, and Sunday’s series finale was polarizing at best (did he head up north to start a hipster grunge band or what?)
The series has had a long run, and regardless of what people may think of the series going out the way it did, Dexter still stands as a great show which gave us many moments that made us clutch our pearls. Here are 10 of the most shocking moments from the series (spoilers ahead!).
The Ice Truck Killer is… who?! Dexter’s first season is totally one of the series’ best, perhaps because it stayed the most true to the novel the show is based on, Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter. We were hooked from the first episode, after watching the meticulousness of Dexter’s first kill, but the rest of the season had one of the craziest serial killers of the series – the Ice Truck Killer – who mysteriously knew everything about Dexter. As the season drew to a close, we found out that the Ice Truck Killer was no other than Dexter’s biological brother(!) and their showdown that clarified Dexter’s traumatic past was both heartbreaking and terrifying.
Lila Tourney is a legit psycho We all knew that Lila was shady as hell from the first time we saw her, but the full extent of Lila’s craziness didn’t come into play until the season went on. Basically, Lila + fire = OMGWTF. It was one thing to burn down her own artwork just because she was attention-deprived, but burning her place down with Dexter and Rita’s kids inside? Killing Sergeant Doakes by burning down the cabin? Lila was so unique in her craziness that Dexter made a special trip to Paris just to finish her off.
Sergeant Doakes has the worst luck in the world Speaking of the ever-lovable Doakes, it was bad enough that he was the only one who knew there was something off about Dexter (even Dexter found it surprising that no one else got bad vibes from him). Nobody believed him, and things just got worse after Dexter framed him for being the Bay Harbor Butcher. Doakes finally caught up to him, but the always-prepared Dexter locked him up in a cage (literally). The most heart-breaking part about Doakes’ death was that he had managed to get out of his cage – twice. The first time, he was captured and taken back by drug dealers, and the second time he was too late, escaping just in time for the cabin to blow up. It really seemed like Doakes had a chance, but this arc was the first to show that good people don’t get good endings in Dexter.
Dexter, family man The moment that Dexter found out that Rita was pregnant, he was probably just as surprised as the rest of the world. It was a shocking revelation, and one that left audiences wondering about what this would mean. How could Dexter be a father? Will his son be a sociopath as well? What was even more shocking was that though little Harrison was never around at the most convenient times (thanks Jamie, you’re the best babysitter in the world), when he was, Dexter surprisingly proved himself to be a very loving father.
Dex, Lumen, plastic sheets, and Deb In one of the tensest scenes of the series, Dexter and Lumen finally kill Jordan Chase, one of the men who had tortured Lumen and numerous other women. At the worst moment ever, Debra walked in and we finally thought that this was the moment that she would find out about Dexter. Luckily for Dex and Lumen, though, they were hidden behind plastic sheets (how poetic) and Deb couldn’t see their faces. Deb knew that they were the killers and instead of arresting them, gave them a warning that the police were coming and left...and then we all finally breathed.
Deb’s down and Lundy’s dead Mr. Trinity Killer sure didn’t do a good job raising his kids. Christine Hill, a journalist from the Miami Tribune, gets involved with Joey Quinn for the sole reason to squeeze classified case information out of him. It was shocking enough to see Deb and Frank Lundy get shot out of nowhere, but finding out that it was Christine who killed them because she was the Trinity Killer’s first daughter was jaw-droppingly surprising.
Rita’s death Hands-down the most shocking moment in the series was Dexter coming home to find Rita, longtime partner and mother of his child, dead in a bathtub filled with her blood. Rita was completely innocent and was murdered by the Trinity Killer in his one last attempt to get back at Dexter. Dexter’s shock is palpable and the entire scene of him finding Rita is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the whole series.
Deb finds out about Dexter It took 6 seasons, but Deb finally found out what her brother really was. After going to the church which Travis Marshall used as his crazy-religious-stuff headquarters, Deb saw Dexter kill Travis, Bay Harbor Butcher style, right in front of her eyes. The 7th season showed Deb grappling with the fact that her brother was a serial killer, and Dexter’s admissions were both refreshing and terrifying to hear. Looking back now, Deb finding out about Dexter was really the beginning of the end for her, making the moment she found out all the more poignant.
Deb kills LaGuerta Maria LaGuerta was no saint, but whatever she was, she wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer. Once again showing up at the most inopportune times for Dexter, Deb walked into Dex’s infamous shipping container to find him with a dead Estrada and a kidnapped LaGuerta. Deb pulled out her gun and frantically waved it between LaGuerta and Dexter, clearly not knowing what to do. LaGuerta eventually awoke from her Dex-induced drug haze and told Deb to shoot her brother, who told her “It’s ok. Do what you gotta do.” Deb finally turns to Dexter and we think that she’ll shoot him, but she chooses to take down LaGuerta instead.
Goodbye, Debra Sunday’s series finale left a lot of questions unanswered and many heads scratching, but you have to admit – out of all the speculations about the finale, no one guessed that Dex would end up becoming a lumberjack. Still, though, it was surprising and heartwrenching to see what happened with Deb. After being shot by Saxon, Deb was taken to the hospital where her recovery seemed to be going well at first. All of a sudden, though, she got complications from surgery and suffered a stroke, which left her on life support and essentially a vegetable. Not wanting her to live her life that way, Dexter shut off Deb's life support and took her out on his boat, dropping her off in the middle of the ocean – his last victim. Deb was the heart and soul of the series, so watching her go was tough to see.
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The death of actor James Gandolfini has sent a shock wave through Hollywood, prompting a slew of tributes from heartbroken stars including Susan Sarandon, Russell Crowe, Lindsay Lohan and Ewan Mcgregor. The Sopranos star passed away on Wednesday (19Jun13) after reportedly suffering a heart attack in Rome, Italy ahead of an appearance at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily later this week (beg17Jun13).
The 51 year old's iconic role as mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit U.S. TV series won him the respect of his fellow actors and directors, and tributes have poured in from his former colleagues and fans.
Sarandon, who starred opposite Gandolfini in 2005 film Romance & Cigarettes, writes in a post on Twitter.com, "So sad to lose James Gandolfini. One of the sweetest, funniest, most generous actors I've ever worked with. Sending prayers to his family."
Olivia Wilde, who worked with him on this year's (13) The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, writes, "James Gandolfini was a kind, funny, wonderful guy. I'm so lucky to have worked with him. Sending love to his family. Such a sad, sad day."
His Surviving Christmas co-star Christina Applegate writes, "I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini! My heart is broken for his family!! I'm in shock."
Crowe took to Twitter.com to recall his first meeting with Gandolfini in the early 1990s, writing, "Sad to hear about James Gandolfini. First met Jimmy back in '94. He was roommates in NY with (actor) Lenny Loftin (sic). Lovely man. RIP Jimmy."
McGregor tweets, "Jesus. The world just lost one of its great actors. James Gandolfini has passed away. Thoughts to his family. Such a talent. I'm saddened," and Samuel L. Jackson adds, "Massive blow to the acting community today... The passing of James Gandolfini. So talented. My heart goes out to his family!"
The news even prompted a response from troubled actress Lohan, who sent a message from rehab, where she is serving out a court-ordered treatment program. A message posted on her Twitter.com page, reads, "From Lindsay: 'James Gandolfini was a dear friend and a great man. My heart goes out to his family. He will be greatly missed' - team Lohan."
Stars from the world of music were also saddened to hear of Gandolfini's death, with Justin Timberlake writing, "Really though... This James Gandolfini passing is so sad. My heart goes out to his family in this time. RIP. Taken too soon," while Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler adds, "You were... and always will be... A true gift! James Gandolfini."
Other tributes came from stars including Val Kilmer, John Cusack, Rose McGowan, Mia Farrow, Bette Midler, Michael J. Fox, Debra Messing, Jonah Hill, Wes Craven and Busy Philipps.

Forget that the latest adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's sweeping romance novel comes from the man who brought us the slick-but-stuffy Pride and Prejudice and Atonement. Every frame of director Joe Wright's Anna Karenina is a wonder to behold overflowing with visual spectacle and roaring performances. Keira Knightley Jude Law Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the rest of the cast fit perfectly in the high drama epic but it's really Wright's playground. Following Hanna an artful spin on the action movie Wright returns to the period drama but injects it with dazzling daring choices. A book like Anna Karenina could once fit in reality but its larger-than-life legacy precedes it. Wright acknowledges that from frame one approaching the film like a grand ballet or opera where grand gestures broad emotions and overt theatrics are commonplace. That vision clicks transforming Anna Karenina into an exhilarating moviegoing experience.
The storyline of Anna Karenina isn't far off from a daytime soap: It's 1874 and Anna (Knightley) is floating through existence as the wife of influential government player Karenin (Law). But when her brother Oblonsky (Matthew Macfadyen) summons her to Moscow to save his marriage Anna's entire world is shaken up. She meets Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson) a cavalry hunk who finds himself smitten with the taken lady. She's in the same boat: The two strike up a flirtatious relationship that evolves into one of sexual passion. A scandalous affair would incite trouble in the preset day but in the 19th century it's the ultimate crime. Quickly Anna's life comes crumbling down.
The intertwining melodrama of Anna Karenina earned the novel its classic status but Wright uses the material as a launching pad for imagination rather than a tome to translate to screen. Many of the scenes are staged in a theater creating an instant awareness of the production. Sets shift and are reconstructed into new rooms; actors costume change in the span of single shots; action sequences like a thrilling horse race are conducted on stage with special effects you might see on Broadway. Wright works this sort of stylization in the other direction too; a character could walk an empty stage open a door and suddenly be on a snow-covered hill. Anna Karenina isn't the first film to use the effect but in Wright's hands it's exhilarating.
The movie is Wright's third collaboration with Knightley and easily their most successful. Knightley never struggles to stay on the same page as the heightened material whether she's nailing a dance sequence or breaking down in a flood of tears. Casting an ensemble around Knightley is no easy task but Taylor-Johnson gives his best work yet as the debonair love interest and Macfadyen steals the show with moments of physical comedy.
We have expectations of the texture and structure of period romances. Anna Karenina defies them. Masterpiece Theater it is not.

Robert Zemeckis is a blockbuster director at heart. Action has never been an issue for the man behind Back to the Future. When he puts aside the high concept adventures for emotional human stories — think Forrest Gump or Cast Away — he still goes big. His latest Flight continues the trend revolving the story of one man's fight with alcoholism around a terrifying plane crash. Zemeckis expertly crafts his roaring centerpiece and while he finds an agile performer in Denzel Washington the hour-and-a-half of Flight after the shocking moment can't sustain the power. The "big" works. The intimate drowns.
Washington stars as Whip Whitaker a reckless airline pilot who balances his days flying jumbo jets with picking up women snorting lines of cocaine and drinking himself to sleep. Although drunk for the flight that will change his life forever that's not the reason the plane goes down — in fact it may be the reason he thinks up his savvy landing solution in the first place. Writer John Gatins follows Whitaker into the aftermath madness: an investigation of what really happened during the flight Whitaker's battle to cap his addictions and budding relationships that if nurtured could save his life.
Zemeckis tops his own plane crash in Cast Away with the heart-pounding tailspin sequence (if you've ever been scared of flying before Flight will push into phobia territory). In the few scenes after the literal destruction Washington is able to convey an equal amount of power in the moments of mental destruction. Whitaker is obviously crushed by the events the bottle silently calling for him in every down moment. Flight strives for that level of introspection throughout eventually pairing Washington with equally distraught junkie Nicole (Kelly Reilly). Their relationship is barely fleshed out with the script time and time again resorting to obvious over-the-top depictions of substance abuse (a la Nic Cage's Leaving Las Vegas) and the bickering that follows. Washington's Whitaker hits is lowest point early sitting there until the climax of the film.
Sharing screentime with the intimate tale is the surprisingly comical attempt by the pilot's airline union buddy (Bruce Greenwood) and the company lawyer (Don Cheadle) to get Whitaker into shape. Prepping him for inquisitions looking into evidence from the wreckage and calling upon Whitaker's dealer Harling (John Goodman) to jump start their "hero" when the time is right the two men do everything they can to keep any blame being placed upon Whitaker by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators. The thread doesn't feel relevant to Whitaker's plight and in turn feels like unnecessary baggage that pads the runtime.
Everything in Fight shoots for the skies — and on purpose. The music is constantly swelling the photography glossy and unnatural and rarely do we breach Washington's wild exterior for a sense of what Whitaker's really grappling with. For Zemeckis Flight is still a spectacle film with Washington's ability to emote as the magical special effect. Instead of using it sparingly he once again goes big. Too big.
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While recent animated blockbusters have aimed to viewers of all ages starting with fantastical concepts and breathtaking visuals but tackling complex emotional issues along the way Ice Age: Continental Drift is crafted especially for the wee ones — and it works. Venturing back to prehistoric times once again the fourth Ice Age film paints broad strokes on the theme of familial relationships throwing in plenty of physical comedy along the way. The movie isn't that far off from one of the many Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels: not particularly innovative or necessary but harmless thrilling fun for anyone with a sense of humor. Unless they have a particular distaste for wooly mammoths the kids will love it.
Ice Age: Continental Drift continues to snowball its cartoon roster bringing back the original film's trio (Ray Romano as Manny the Mammoth Denis Leary as Diego the Sabertooth Tiger and John Leguizamo as Sid the Sloth) new faces acquired over the course of the franchise (Queen Latifah as Manny's wife Ellie) and a handful of new characters to spice things up everyone from Nicki Minaj as Manny's daughter Steffie to Wanda Sykes as Sid's wily grandma. The whole gang is living a pleasant existence as a herd with Manny's biggest problem being playing overbearing dad to the rebellious daughter. Teen mammoths they always want to go out and play by the waterfall! Whippersnappers.
The main thrust of the film comes when Scratch the Rat (whose silent comedy routines in the vein of Tex Avery/WB cartoons continue to be the series highlight) accidentally cracks the singular continent Pangea into the world we know today. Manny Diego and Sid find themselves stranded on an iceberg once again forced on a road trip journey of survival. The rest of the herd embarks to meet them giving Steffie time to realize the true meaning of friendship with help from her mole pal Louis (Josh Gad).
The ham-handed lessons may drag for those who've passed Kindergarten but Ice Age: Continental Drift is a lot of fun when the main gang crosses paths with a group of villainous pirates. (Back then monkeys rabbits and seals were hitting the high seas together pillaging via boat-shaped icebergs. Obviously.) Quickly Ice Age becomes an old school pirate adventure complete with maritime navigation buried treasure and sword fights. Gut (Peter Dinklage) an evil ape with a deadly... fingernail leads the evil-doers who pose an entertaining threat for the familiar bunch. Jennifer Lopez pops by as Gut's second-in-command Shira the White Tiger and the film's two cats have a chase scene that should rouse even the most apathetic adults. Hearing Dinklage (of Game of Thrones fame) belt out a pirate shanty may be worth the price of admission alone.
With solid action (that doesn't need the 3D addition) cartoony animation and gags out the wazoo Ice Age: Continental Drift is entertainment to enjoy with the whole family. Revelatory? Not quite. Until we get a feature length silent film of Scratch's acorn pursuit we may never see a "classic" Ice Age film but Continental Drift keeps it together long enough to tell a simple story with delightful flare that should hold attention spans of any length. Massive amounts of sugar not even required.
[Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox]

You love them, we love them, and it's high time Emmy recognized them. We're talking about the TV actors and actresses who have yet to be recognized by the Academy of Television Arts &amp; Sciences, despite drawing us in week in and week out with their awe-inspiring ability to make us laugh, cry, or a weird combination of both. So every day here at Hollywood.com, we're going to be saluting those on the small screen who deserve an Emmy nomination, longshot status be damned. Today, we cast our ballot for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Kaitlin Olson.
It's no simple feat to name the funniest female on television. In fact, in the past 10 years, the TV landscape has been so friendly to men's other half — green-lighting sitcoms and series starring women as hilarious as they are unconventional — it's no wonder they call it the "boob tube." Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sofia Vergara... how can one choose a favorite?
But if I had to name the funniest lady on television, I would choose young Ursula Parker, who plays Louie's precocious daughter Jane, the only kid on TV who truly nails the adorable assholery parents experience on a daily basis with their children. But as much as I'd love for the young Parker to score a well-deserved Emmy nomination ("I... am... BORED!" has become as much of a catchphrase in my household as anything ever uttered by Jerry Seinfeld), she neglected to submit for one in 2012. So, instead, I have no choice but to root for the second funniest female on television: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Kaitlin Olson.
And I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to salute Sweet Dee, the series' vain, sadistic, and alluringly vulnerable female pro(or is it an?)tagonist. After all, Olson has been tragically under-appreciated during It's Always Sunny's seven-season run. Blame society's apprehension to truly admit a woman can be just as funny (or funnier) than her male co-stars. Or blame, far more simply, the scene-stealing prowess of Charlie Day. But just watch Season 7's "Sweet Dee Gets Audited" for proof of how much Olson deserves special recognition apart from the ridiculously talented cast. We're talking about an actress who can take any delicate, sensitive subject, and expertly pervert it into shocking storyline that makes you wonder whether 22 minutes of television could send you straight to hell. And, yet, after all that, you're still rooting for Sweet Dee.
Credit Olson for being able to make you cheer for a woman you hope never to meet your entire life. She is one of the most unique actresses currently on television, playing a woman with little to no redeeming qualities outside of her ability to heavily binge drink. Still, Olson brings a certain depth to Sweet Dee that allows Sunny fans to justify the character's outlandishly terrible behavior. Perhaps that's because over the course of seven seasons, Olson has managed to morph Sweet Dee into our id, our inner (aluminum) monster who would follow through on the basest of revenge-seeking actions if given the opportunity. Sure, she lashes out against her own loved(?) ones after getting in with the cool kids in "The High School Reunion," but after enduring a decade of scoliosis-themed taunts, wouldn't anyone succumb to peer pressure weakness? Sure, she applies to become a surrogate (and eventually does become one) purely for the cash, but who hasn't had pondered just what it would take for us to act on an immoral get-rich-quick scheme? And, sure, she takes a dumpster baby to a tanning booth in order to make him more attractive to modeling agencies, but... okay, so there are some things we just wouldn't do. (Of course, we're not everyone.)
Not to mention the fact that Olson is one of the most gifted physical comediennes on television. In fact, I started rooting for her future Emmy chances the second I saw her roll down a hill (and channel Grape Stomp Lady) in "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System." The manic laughter, the clumsy feet, the way she can keep up with an Air Dancer... Olson comes from the same school of physical comedy as former Emmy winners Lucille Ball, Debra Messing, and Louis-Dreyfus. Add that to her spit-out-your-beer delivery of lines like "I will eat your babies, bitch!" and the actress' moxie (Olson once told me that she strongly lobbied for Dee to be just as terrible as the rest of her Paddy's cohorts, and not just act as "the girl" amongst horrible men), and it's hard not to hope that Olson will soon boast the award notoriety of comedy's most talented lady legends.
So why hasn't Olson — or any of her Sunny co-stars for that matter — ever been nominated after seven seasons on the air? The Academy certainly hasn't held back on rewarding horrible characters in the past. (See: Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine on Seinfeld, Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester in Glee.) Though there's no justification (I have many times thought of unleashing Night Man on the Academy after their snubs), I'm hoping the Academy's new outlook on cable will spell bright things for Sunny, especially after fellow FX dweller Louis C.K. found himself nabbing a deserved nomination in 2011. If the Emmys continues on this trend, perhaps Olson will not be such a longshot. And wouldn't that be Sweet (Dee)?
Follow Kate on Twitter @HWKateWard [Image Credit: FX] More:2012 Emmy Longshots: The VPOTUS Herself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus 2012 Daytime Emmy Award Winners: See the List Here! 2012 Emmy Longshots: Smash Singing Sensation Megan Hilty
It's Always Sunny

Timing, as we all know too well, is everything. Whether it be in an ultimately ill-fated relationship or being unconventional in Hollywood during a time when offbeat is not only celebrated, but a success story. It all comes down to timing.
So it's fitting that actress Greta Gerwig, she of indie cred like Greenberg and Damsels in Distress, is appearing in the new romantic comedy Lola Versus. A movie about that time in a young New Yorkers life when the timing is completely wrong just so happens to be out at the same time as cultural game-changers like Girls and Bridesmaids leading the charge.
The impeccable timing and inevitable comparisons of her lovelorn Lola — a smart, but fumbling late twentysomething who is dumped by her fiance just weeks before their wedding and is left to pick up the pieces of her life — to the recent trend of flawed female characters is something that resonated with Gerwig, who chatted with Hollywood.com about her latest project.
"She's the hardest to love," Gerwig says of the titular Lola in Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister Jones' observational urban relationship comedy, "Usually they're kind of perfect and have no flaws or their flaws can be gotten over in a day. [Lola's flaws] are deep and she makes big mistakes and I really liked that." While Gerwig, who has also starred in more mainstream fare like No Strings Attached and Arthur, says she's not opposed to that type of moviemaking ("I go both ways…I love Notting Hill, I love those [kinds of] movies") she is happy to be part of the new wave of female-driven rom coms.
"It's a really special time to be a girl making movies because there's a certain craving for people who look more like people you know, people who seem like people you know," Gerwig tells Hollywood.com, "I think that's true of Bridesmaids and a lot of these movies, they just don't alienate you. You recognize them, even when that's painful."
Of course, even if Hollywood has finally caught up with finding beauty in flaws with entertainment like Lola Versus, Girls, and Bridesmaids, Gerwig admits it even took her a little time to get there. "I went through a phase of really wanting to fit in and be like everyone else and be that beautiful starlet that has no flaws," she says, adding, "I think, really, at the end of the day for me it's so much more powerful and special to be able to accept myself for who I am and not try to change it."
It's a good thing for Gerwig that she opted to stay true to herself than mold to the typical Hollywood conventions: the 28-year-old's talents caught the attention of the one and only Woody Allen. Gerwig appears in the Oscar-winning legend's latest international love letter To Rome With Love, an experience she says was "totally surreal and amazing."
"It was [filmed] in Rome, so that just added to the feeling of 'Where am I and what's happening?'," Gerwig explains, "I was just so honored and grateful to be able to work with him. It doesn't even feel like I actually got to do it because it went by so fast and I was nervous the whole time. I hope I get to do it again one day so I can actually savor it."
Still, even with Gerwig's good fortune to work with the likes of icons such as Woody Allen and her Lola Versus co-star Debra Winger ("She's a woman who has not been put into a cookie cutter mold….it felt so special to work with someone like that, who didn't succumb to pressure to be a certain way,") sometimes the timing can still go wrong.
Gerwig was part of Noah Baumbach and Scott Rudin's all-star television adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's acclaimed novel The Corrections. The family drama, which also starred Ewan McGregor, Dianne Wiest, Chris Cooper, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, was passed over by HBO. "I think it's not going to happen," Gerwig says of the fate of the project, "It was an amazing cast and an amazing script. I think ultimately it just wasn't for television and I think they realized that. Maybe it would have worked better as a miniseries."
But Gerwig isn't taking the Hollywood timing misfortune to heart. In fact, she has all the positivity of the smart, hopeful twentysomethings that are touching a nerve with audiences these days about it. "It's just one of those things. It was a bummer, but thems the breaks."
[Photo credit: Fox Searchlight]
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More: Lola Versus Poster Features Rising Star Greta Gerwig

In a post-Harry Potter Avatar and Lord of the Rings world the descriptors "sci-fi" and "fantasy" conjure up particular imagery and ideas. The Hunger Games abolishes those expectations rooting its alternate universe in a familiar reality filled with human characters tangible environments and terrifying consequences. Computer graphics are a rarity in writer/director Gary Ross' slow-burn thriller wisely setting aside effects and big action to focus on star Jennifer Lawrence's character's emotional struggle as she embarks on the unthinkable: a 24-person death match on display for the entire nation's viewing pleasure. The final product is a gut-wrenching mature young adult fiction adaptation diffused by occasional meandering but with enough unexpected choices to keep audiences on their toes.
Panem a reconfigured post-apocalyptic America is sectioned off into 12 unique districts and ruled under an iron thumb by the oppressive leaders of The Capitol. To keep the districts producing their specific resources and prevent them from rebelling The Capitol created The Hunger Games an annual competition pitting two 18-or-under "tributes" from each district in a battle to the death. During the ritual tribute "Reaping " teenage Katniss (Lawrence) watches as her 12-year-old sister Primrose is chosen for battle—and quickly jumps to her aid becoming the first District 12 citizen to volunteer for the games. Joined by Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) a meek baker's son and the second tribute Effie the resident designer and Haymitch a former Hunger Games winner-turned-alcoholic-turned-mentor Katniss rides off to The Capitol to train and compete in the 74th Annual Hunger Games.
The greatest triumph of The Hunger Games is Ross' rich realization of the book's many worlds: District 12 is painted as a reminiscent Southern mining town haunting and vibrant; The Capitol is a utopian metropolis obsessed with design and flair; and The Hunger Games battleground is a sprawling forest peppered with Truman Show-esque additions that remind you it's all being controlled by overseers. The small-scale production value adds to the character-first approach and even when the story segues to larger arenas like a tickertape parade in The Capitol's grand Avenue of Tributes hall it's all about Katniss.
For fans the script hits every beat a nearly note-for-note interpretation of author Suzanne Collins' original novel—but those unfamiliar shouldn't worry about missing anything. Ross knows his way around a sharp screenplay (he's the writer of Big Pleasantville and Seabiscuit) and he's comfortable dropping us right into the action. His characters are equally as colorful as Panem Harrelson sticking out as the former tribute enlivened by the chance to coach winners. He's funny he's discreet he's shaded—a quality all the cast members share. As a director Ross employs a distinct often-grating perspective. His shaky cam style emphasizes the reality of the story but in fight scenarios—and even simple establishing shots of District 12's goings-on—the details are lost in motion blur.
But the dread of the scenario is enough to make Hunger Games an engrossing blockbuster. The lead-up to the actual competition is an uncomfortable and biting satire of reality television sports and everything that commands an audience in modern society. Katniss' brooding friend Gale tells her before she departs "What if nobody watched?" speculating that carnage might end if people could turn away. Unfortunately they can't—forcing Katniss and Peeta to become "stars" of the Hunger Games. The duo are pushed to gussy themselves up put on a show and play up their romance for better ratings. Lawrence channels her reserved Academy Award-nominated Winter's Bone character to inhabit Katniss' frustration with the system. She's great at hunting but she doesn't want to kill. She's compassionate and considerate but has no interest in bowing down to the system. She's a leader but she knows full well she's playing The Capitol's game. Even with 23 other contestants vying for the top spot—like American Idol with machetes complete with Ryan Seacrest stand-in Caesar Flickerman (the dazzling Stanley Tucci)—Katniss' greatest hurdle is internal. A brave move for a movie aimed at a young audience.
By the time the actual Games roll around (the movie clocks in at two and a half hours) there's a need to amp up the pace that never comes and The Hunger Games loses footing. Katniss' goal is to avoid the action hiding in trees and caves waiting patiently for the other tributes to off themselves—but the tactic isn't all that thrilling for those watching. Luckily Lawrence Hutcherson and the ensemble of young actors still deliver when they cross paths and particular beats pack all the punch an all-out deathwatch should. PG-13 be damned the film doesn't skimp on the bloodshed even when it comes to killing off children. The Hunger Games bites off a lot for the first film of a franchise and does so bravely and boldly. It may not make it to the end alive but it doesn't go down without a fight.
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Summary

Her father had worked as an art director on many of the Hope/Crosby "Road" pictures and Debra Hill certainly paid her dues, first as a script supervisor on more than a dozen features before edging into editing and 2nd unit work. Her big break came when John Carpenter gave her the opportunity to produce "Halloween" (1978), a screenplay they had written together. She responded amazingly, managing to achieve a handsome look for under $400,000. Her next four producing projects were all with Carpenter ("The Fog" 1980, which she also co-wrote with him; "Escape from New York" 1981; "Halloween II" 1981, which she again co-scripted; and "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" 1982).<p> Hill earned her first producing credit beyond the Carpenter sphere for David Cronenberg's "The Dead Zone" (1983) and followed with "Head Office" and "Clue" (both 1985) before joining forces with longtime friend and colleague Lynda Obst to form the independent production company Hill/Obst Productions. Hill/Obst produced Chris Columbus' "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987), the CBS pilot based on that film (1989), "Heartbreak Hotel" (1988), also directed by Columbus, and Terry Gilliam's "The Fisher King" (1991) before finally dissolving their partnership.<p> In 1988, Hill signed an exclusive development and production deal at Walt Disney Pictures for her new company, Debra Hill Productions. She produced many short films for the Disney/MGM Studio Tour theme park in Orlando, FL, as well as the feature "Gross Anatomy" (1989) for Touchstone and "The Disneyland 35th Anniversary Special" for NBC. In 1994, Hill, along with Lou Arkoff, Willie Kutner and David Giler produced 10 remakes of 50s movies for Showtime's "Rebel Highway" series (i.e., "Girls in Prison", "Shake, Rattle and Rock"). The 90s also reunited her twice with Carpenter as executive producer for the sequel "John Carpenter's Escape from L.A." (1996) and the HBO Western "El Diablo" (1990).

together in the late 1970s; Hill produced and co-scripted Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978) and "The Fog" (1980) and collaborated on five subsequent projects

Education

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Notes

On holding out to direct something more to her tastes, Hill said: "I don't want to become the 'Queen of Morbid Terror,' as John calls me. But I do have a natural feel for the genre. Anything that can touch the audience, get them involved-that is to me the excitement of the movies. It's bigger than life.

"I think I write horror well. Maybe it's just a sadistic streak in me. I remember I once said to John, thank God he can get his outlet killing women in a movie. Think if it was suppressed!" --Debra Hill in CINEFANTASTIQUE, Volume 10 No. 1

Affiliations

Environmental activist who has served on the board of ECO (Earth Communications Office)